ACC Tourney: Thursday Thoughts (pt. II)

Day turned to night in Greensboro. A team from down the road in Raleigh made some noise thanks to two special players.

#7 NC State vs. #10 Miami

This one felt different from the beginning. The electricity had arrived in the Coliseum as the Wolfpack darted out to a 7-2 lead. The atmosphere was awesome.

Miami was definitely keying on ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren, but the man could still find a way to score. He’s just that good.

But the Hurricanes and Head Coach Jim Larranaga were throwing everything and everybody at him. Slowly but surely, the Canes were climbing back with some defensive tenacity.

Darius Adams was making some nice moves on the offensive end for Miami as the Wolfpack struggled to run their own offense, missing shot after shot.

With 7:19 to play before halftime, NC State held a narrow 13-12 advantage. Ralston Turner was leading the scoring charge for the Wolfpack with six points. The game’s pacing was much more to Miami’s liking.

It was looking more and more like the first team to sixty points may win the game. At the half, the Wolfpack held a 26-22 advantage.

Impressively, NC State only committed a single turnover in the entire first half of action. But the shooting woes were evident for the Wolfpack, who only shot 32 percent from the floor. The Canes shot a more respectable 42 percent as a team.

Miami led in total rebounds 18-12 and scored 16 of their 22 points in the paint.

More importantly, however, the trampoline dunking show at halftime was on point! You just had to turn a blind eye to all the traveling.

If anybody likes a good churro, might I suggest grabbing one at the Coliseum? Very delicious – had too many to count!

Meanwhile, NC State and Warren came out blazing in the second half and claimed a 32-24 lead just 2.5 minutes into it.

But Miami bounced right back with Larranaga barking out orders from the sideline. He’s really a heck of a coach, that guy. He’s a battler, and his players, at least in this contest, were taking after him.

The game was really stagnant, at least as far as scoring. I caught a dude falling asleep a few rows back from me. He woke up a few minutes later and really didn’t miss a thing.

But alas, a winner had to be found. Turner was a major player. Let’s say he was Robin to Warren’s Batman. And “Batman” displayed some soft touch to get a couple more baskets to fall, but the Canes went on a late 9-0 run full of guts and effort. But it wasn’t quite enough. The Wolfpack eeked out the victory and a spot opposite Syracuse in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

FINAL: NCSU 67 – UM 58

http://chapelboro.com/sports/acc/acc-tourney-thursday-thoughts-pt-ii/

Hurricane Warning: Tar Heels Drop Second Straight in ACC 63-57

CHAPEL HILL- The North Carolina men’s basketball team lost 63-57 to the Miami Hurricanes Wednesday night at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill to fall to 10-5 on the season and 0-2 in ACC action.

The Tar Heel offense was anemic for most of the night, but the aggressive 2-3 zone by the athletic Miami squad definitely contributed to the woes. In total, Carolina shot 31 percent from the floor.

The Hurricanes, improving to 9-6 overall and 1-2 in conference, slowed down the tempo, and executed a surgical offense for much of the contest while UNC continued its turnover struggles with some erratic play.

Rion Brown led the way for Miami with 15 points. Marcus Paige was a dreadful 2-15 from the floor for the Tar Heels and Joel James was ejected from the game in the first half with a flagrant foul.

James wasted no time making an impact in his return. He got to the free throw line and knocked down both attempts. And then he ignited the crowd with an up and under move to put the Tar Heels up 6-0 with 17:51 left on the first half clock.

The energy and intensity was up from the outset on this night. At the under-16 timeout, Carolina held an 8-6 advantage over the Hurricanes.

Desmond Hubert fought his way to the foul line after the stop in play. He converted on one of two.

The Hurricanes battled out to a slim 10-9 lead, but Carolina’s Paige found nothing but net on a smooth three-point jumper. And Kennedy Meeks entered the scoring fray with a made slider inside to stake UNC ahead 14-13 with 11:20 to go in the half.

The pace of scoring slowed to a screeching halt for Carolina, and Miami was taking full advantage, garnering a 15-14 edge with 9:08 on the clock.

Tonye Jekiri picked up his second foul at the 8 minute mark. He was forced to take a spot on the Hurricane bench.

Nate Britt got his first points of the game with a deep two-point field goal to grab the lead back for the Tar Heels. But a freebie layup off a steal gave the lead back to Miami.

With 5:25 left in the first half, Miami held a 17-16 edge in a sloppy, back-and-forth affair in the Smith Center that had Coach Williams barking out orders courtside.

Isaiah Hicks hit a free throw and Paige hustled to get the rebound off the miss in the back court. Miami’s Rion Brown scored on the other end and continued his team-leading night in scoring early on.

Paige missed a three-point attempt from way out and the Tar Heels had only made three out of their last 18 shots to fall behind 21-17 with 3:24 remaining in the first half.

Meeks used his body well to earn a basket that closed Carolina within two. But Erik Swoope got one to go for the Hurricanes to extend back out the lead to four.

And a dagger three-pointer from Brown pushed Miami out in front even more. At the close of the half, the score stood at 29-23 in favor of the Hurricanes following a McDonald three.

Miami’s Rion Brown was leading all scorers with 11 points while Kennedy Meeks led the way for Carolina with 5 points.

UNC was shooting a woeful 29.6 percent from the floor in the first half. Miami was shooting at 37.9 clip.

To start the half, Paige knocked down a pair of foul shots to close the Tar Heels within four briefly before Kirk put the Hurricanes back up by six with 18:31 to go in the game.

James was thrown out of the game on a flagrant foul. The fans inside the Dean Dome were not too happy with ejection when it appeared James had no malicious intent.

Brice Johnson got his first points of the night with a turnaround jumper that placed the score at 34-27 with 17:05 left in the contest.

Carolina continued to be out of sync on offense, trailing 35-27 with 15:59 to go. Surprisingly, Miami had not managed to build a wider margin.

A beautiful slam by J.P. Tokoto woke up the snoozing crowd and encouraged a timeout by Miami Coach Larranaga with score standing at 35-31 in favor of Miami.

It marked the first time Carolina scored back-to-back field goals since it was up 8-0 in the first half.

Miami seized momentum back with a couple quick buckets to extend the lead out to 41-33 with under 12 minutes left in the game. Swoope was providing some nice energy inside for the Hurricanes.

McDonald banged in a long three to keep Carolina in the hunt, but Miami’s surgical offensive execution kept them in front 46-36 with 9:09 remaining.

McAdoo knocked a jumper in, and then followed that up with a trip to the foul line. He made one to get UNC within seven.

McDonald chipped in another score to get the Tar Heels within five, and Tokoto provided some more lift. UNC had closed the gap to 47-43 with 5:08 to play.

Jekiri converted on a slam on the other end to get the Miami offense going again. Kirk fouled out for the Hurricanes to send Johnson to the line. He flicked them both through the nets.

But McAdoo returned the favor to send Swoope to the line on a three-point play. Turnovers were doing the Tar Heels in towards the end of the game.

With 3:32 to play, timeout was called. Miami led UNC 52-45. The Tar Heels continued to battle on in the waning minutes, but it was a case of too little too late as Miami walked out of the Dean Dome with a victory for the second straight time.

The Tar Heels dropped their ACC opener 73-67 at Wake Forest Sunday night while the Hurricanes lost to league favorite Syracuse in a tight contest, 49-44.

Head Coach Roy Williams says one of the most disappointing aspects of the Wake defeat was the free throw disparity.

“You know it’s a frustrating game. They shot 33 free throws. We shot 11. We get eight million offensive rebounds, but we can finish the play around the basket. It was just a frustrating game in so many different ways. But the bottom line is WakeForest played better than North Carolina,” Coach Williams says.

As a result, Coach Williams says Monday’s practice was the most physical the team has had all year.

“It was the most physical practice we’ve had for an hour all year long. They were beating each other up, and it didn’t bother me in the least bit. We’ve got be more forceful around the basket and finish plays,” Coach Williams says.

The Tar Heels committed 17 turnovers against the Demon Deacons. And Coach Williams says most of those were “silly turnovers.”

“We had four turnovers passing the ball from A to B where the defense was not involved. We had three turnovers just dribbling the basketball. […] So those were silly turnovers,” Coach Williams says.

It’s been nearly impossible to know which Carolina team will hit the floor on any given night this season. Coach Williams says he shouldn’t have to coach intensity and effort, but that’s exactly what it has come to for this group of Tar Heels.

“Some way, somehow, Roy Williams has got to do a better job of getting the kids more fired up and more enthused. I’ve always said I shouldn’t have to coach effort. I shouldn’t have to coach interest. I shouldn’t have to coach desire. […] But I’ve done a poor job of getting these kids fired up to play, and it better change,” Coach Williams says.

A tough road trip up to the Carrier Dome on Saturday to face the No. 2 team in the nation, the Syracuse Orange, looms for the Tar Heels.

But the Miami game comes first. UNC leads the all-time series with Miami 18-5, including a 9-2 mark in Chapel Hill. Tipoff is slated for just after 9 p.m. Wednesday in the Dean Smith Center.

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